THE government decision to set up a regulatory body to register, train and certify the aspiring candidates for appointment as private school teachers needs to be examined in all its ramifications.

The decision has apparently been taken in light of the ever deteriorating standard of education at the school level and the very poor performance of a huge number of private schools in the public examinations. The decision makers have cited intense lobbying or clout of money in the existing recruitment process as having prompted them to have a measure of control over the system.

But some questions certainly arise as to the merit of the decision. First, regulation runs counter to the spirit of modern administration which seeks to delegate more and more power to the agencies below at different levels. Deregulation is in vogue now and it is now a universally sought administrative and economic objective in all developing societies. The setting up of a body to control the whole private school teachers' recruitment process could amount to intrusion into the functioning of private schools in different categories. Second, if uniformity of education is what the government wants to ensure, then one may argue that this doesn't as yet exist even in public schools due to shortage of good teachers. Third, by attempting to establish its control over the recruitment process, the government is taking on a huge responsibility, the fulfillment of which would require a vast infrastructure. The physical preparation needed to train and certify hundreds of thousands of candidates could indeed be a daunting task. Finally, excessive government control could also lead to the opening of the floodgates of malpractice and corruption which are ostensibly aimed to be avoided by the intended new policy approach.

The government has rightly felt that school level education has to be streamlined, but the method chosen is hardly the suitable one, considering that there are other options available to us. What we suggest is that the education ministry set the criteria, albeit in consultation with the experts, for appointing teachers alongside enhancing the training facilities for the candidates. The schools crucially also need professional management committees which will have to be catered for. Then it can establish a supervisory agency to monitor whether the guidelines are being followed.